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Jokers wild

If you want funny peculiar, then look no further, advises Roland White

There is good news and bad news about this year’s selection of humorous books for Christmas. The bad news is that many of them are not completely humorous. And the good news? Well, if you’ve been struggling to discover the pressure at which faeces are expelled from the average penguin then this could be your lucky year.

The selected titles drop more or less neatly into three categories: Christmas offerings from television comedians, books of amazing facts that straddle science and light entertainment, and books that hope they are the popular little brother of The Dangerous Book for Boys.

Let’s start with the amazing facts. Most of these titles have been inspired by the surprise hit of last year, Does Anything Eat Wasps?, a collection of readers’ answers to light-hearted inquiries in New Scientist magazine. The authentic sequel is Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? (Profile £7.99), which tackles not only